Aderemi Dabiri, the founder of a Celestial Church of Christ branch in Lagos State, explained that he invited Fuji singer Alabi Pasuma and street-hop artist Portable with the intention of attracting new converts to the church.
Recently, the white garment church faced significant criticism for including secular artists in its praise night event.
In a video addressing a delegation from the church’s task force, the cleric, Dabiri, explained that the decision to invite the two artists was aimed at drawing in deviants from society.
He emphasized that the adopted pattern of evangelism had proven successful over the years, contributing to the notable growth in his church’s membership.
He said: “It is not our first time inviting guest artistes. We have been doing it without a problem and I can give you a series of instances. We cannot go where they sell palm wine or alcoholic drinks and ask them to accept Jesus Christ. If I don’t apply wisdom, they will hit a bottle on my head. That was why I thought of a way to bring them into the church.
“I also noticed that there are some notorious boys who cause trouble in the community, disturbing the authorities and engaging in cultism. I wondered how can we draw their attention so that they would have a change of heart.
We have gone to places where they are and they ended up beating us. Most of the members of my church are new converts and it was through that pattern that I converted them.”
Dabiri, while expressing criticism toward certain gospel ministers for perceived disrespect, stated a preference for inviting secular musicians to his events.
“Some gospel ministers are rude. If you talk to some of them, they respond rudely, but the day I called Pasuma, he sounded respectful on the phone and also agreed with my stance,” he said.
Addressing the concerns raised by the task force about the controversy, Dabiri affirmed that he had no intention of canceling the invitation.
However, he mentioned plans to curtail the excesses of the artists during the event, particularly focusing on Portable.
He said: “We will tell Portable not to dye his hair and he should not sing vulgar songs but to sing gospel music. We will also caution him not to dress inappropriately or climb the speakers.
“We will also warn him not to allow his boys to smoke here. We have invited close to 30 military personnel to man the event.”
The cleric earnestly appealed to the global Celestial Church community for support, expressing confidence that his unique style of evangelism would bring pride to the church.
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